The predictability of awards season: Miss

The predictability of awards season: Miss

Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images

If you picked Christian Bale, left, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo and Colin Firth on your Oscars ballot, then you had both the joy of seeing your choices prevail on Oscar night and the bitterness of winning very little from your office Oscars pool. This year's Academy Awards brought very few surprises to an awards season that lacked any real tension for weeks. After the myriad precursor ceremonies, from the Golden Globes to the Critics Choice Awards to the DGA Awards, it was apparent that "The King's Speech" was destined to win best picture and the acting trophies were going to those who appeared to pick up every trophy along the way. There may have been some early enthusiasm for "The Social Network," but that quickly died away, leaving a lot of bored awards junkies waiting for Oscar co-hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway to do something unexpected. And waiting. And waiting. --Patrick Kevin Day

If you picked Christian Bale, left, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo and Colin Firth on your Oscars ballot, then you had both the joy of seeing your choices prevail on Oscar night and the bitterness of winning very little from your office Oscars pool. This year's Academy Awards brought very few surprises to an awards season that lacked any real tension for weeks. After the myriad precursor ceremonies, from the Golden Globes to the Critics Choice Awards to the DGA Awards, it was apparent that "The King's Speech" was destined to win best picture and the acting trophies were going to those who appeared to pick up every trophy along the way. There may have been some early enthusiasm for "The Social Network," but that quickly died away, leaving a lot of bored awards junkies waiting for Oscar co-hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway to do something unexpected. And waiting. And waiting. --Patrick Kevin Day (Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images)

If you picked Christian Bale, left, Natalie Portman, Melissa Leo and Colin Firth on your Oscars ballot, then you had both the joy of seeing your choices prevail on Oscar night and the bitterness of winning very little from your office Oscars pool. This year's Academy Awards brought very few surprises to an awards season that lacked any real tension for weeks. After the myriad precursor ceremonies, from the Golden Globes to the Critics Choice Awards to the DGA Awards, it was apparent that "The King's Speech" was destined to win best picture and the acting trophies were going to those who appeared to pick up every trophy along the way. There may have been some early enthusiasm for "The Social Network," but that quickly died away, leaving a lot of bored awards junkies waiting for Oscar co-hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway to do something unexpected. And waiting. And waiting. --Patrick Kevin Day